


i want to hold onto you and ask you not to leave

by skirut



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Buddhism, Diplomacy, Other, There's a fun plot twist at the end, actually three fun plot twists
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-17 03:05:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14824035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skirut/pseuds/skirut
Summary: junmyeon thinks a lot about how much he misses yixing. when lee soo man appears for a nighttime visit, junmyeon will realize the true implication of yixing's absence.





	i want to hold onto you and ask you not to leave

**Author's Note:**

  * For [quietnow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/quietnow/gifts).



> i know this is really long and also Messy but it's fine just ignore this thanks

Kim Junmyeon smiled to himself as he snuggled in his dorm bed, listening to his roommate Oh Sehun snore lowly next to him. Exo’s leader had had a hard day of cheering his members on as they practiced hard for their upcoming comeback for Ko Ko Bop, and now it was time for him to fall into Slumberland and enjoy a nice sweet dream.

Junmyeon was known within Exo for having especially vivid dreams. Kyungsoo, who claimed that he had never once dreamt in his life, often mocked him for it, but Junmyeon maintained that it was his dreaming skill that made him such a good leader (Chanyeol had mocked him for that comment too - Junmyeon could never rest when any of these fools were around.)

He closed his eyes and put in his headphones. Junmyeon couldn’t sleep without ultra potent whale sounds - if he didn’t have them his mind ran around in circles thinking about his members and his schedule for the next day. For instance, right now he was thinking about how Ko Ko Bop would be coming out next week and he still wasn’t sure he knew the steps for the dance break… maybe Sehun could go over them with him tomorrow… gosh, without Lay the whole balance of the group felt off. Lay would’ve instructed him how to do the dance exactly right… what was he doing at this moment -- 

“Kim Junmyeon,” thundered a low, yet amiable voice. Junmyeon opened his eyes and blinked, confusedly, at the 1.98 m man standing at the foot of his bed. Was Sehun still asleep? Who could it be?

“Excuse me? W-who’s there?” Junmyeon whispered, fishing for his phone. Not that he knew who to call - Yixing, who usually would handle situations like this, wasn’t here. He hadn’t been for months.

“It’s me, Junmyeon. The founder of S.M. Entertainment, the President of Culture, the Harbinger of the Hallyu Wave, the 2008 Record Producer of the Year, the Grandmaster of Girl’s Generation, the Sovereign of SHINee, the Executive of Exo. I have come to pose a question to you.” Junmyeon blinked, and the figure became clear - it truly was S.M. Entertainment’s Founder and acclaimed producer Lee Soo Man, who had created Exo many moons ago. But why was he in Junmyeon’s room? It wasn’t the third Tuesday of the month yet. 

“A question?” he echoed. Lee Soo Man’s eyes glittered greenly in the phantasmal moonlight. 

“Indeed,” said Lee Soo Man, nodding. “Yes, I have a question for you, Kim Junmyeon.”

“Okay.” Junmyeon sat up, rubbing his eyes. Lee Soo Man did not move, and remained 1.98 meters tall at the end of his bed without moving. “I’m ready, Lee Soo Man sunbaenim.”

“Think, for a moment, about the fabled ninth member of Exo, Zhang Yixing. What does he mean to you, Junmyeon?” Lee Soo Man riddled, placing a single delicate finger on his manly chin.

“Yixing? He’s a key member of Exo, Lee Soo Man sunbaenim. He’s our main dancer, our Chinese language expert, our dear friend and hyung… I miss him greatly. Why do you ask?”

“I have something to show you, Junmyeon,” Lee Soo Man said darkly, then, with a snap of his meaty fingers, the room went dark.

\--------

Junmyeon opened his eyes to see the SM building overrun with flames, idols running to and fro, shrieking as they grabbed their most coveted items. His dongsaeng Lee Taeyong passed by him gripping what looked to be a suit made of blue fur, his eyes wide with suspicion and fear. He looked around, searching for any sign of Lee Soo Man sunbaenim, but was distracted by a firm hand clamped on his shoulder.

“Super leader hyung!” Chanyeol crowed. “Good morrow, comrade!” 

“Chanyeollie? What’s going on?” Junmyeon asked, staring at his dongsaeng with wide eyes. “Why is the building on fire? Where are the other members? Is Sehun safe?”

Chanyeol shrugged. “Dunno. I just ran out with Minseok hyung. I think maybe Baekhyun and Sehun are still in there, but who knows.” 

“Who knows? Chanyeol! Those are our members! We don’t leave them behind! Ever!” Junmyeon’s heart beat hard in his chest. If only Chanyeol and Minseok were accounted for, that left Baekhyun, Kyungsoo, Sehun, Jongin, and Jongdae in the building. And Yixing. Unless Yixing wasn’t here.

Chanyeol shrugged again. “I guess. I haven’t seen them in months, anyway.” 

“In months? What are you talking about?” Junmyeon looked back at the building. Flames now consumed all but the very top floors. His members… his members couldn’t still be in there, could they?

Chanyeol brought him back to his senses. “...and you know, with Kim Jong-un and Xi Jinping as our co-presidents, I don’t think the industry was really ready for us to continue activities together. That’s what Lee Soo Man sunbaenim says, anyway. But he also was excommunicated by the State, so who’s to really say why Exo hasn’t been able to come together.”

“Wait, what? What are you talking about? What about President Moon Jae-in?” 

“Who? I don’t know her,” Chanyeol sniffed, turning on his heel. “Anyway. I’m going to the Rations Barn.” He then walked away from the flaming building, humming a faintly-familiar tune (shimmy shimmy ko ko bop…)  
Junmyeon looked down only to find an issue of THE UNITED SINO-KOREAN TIMES in his hands. Though confused by this turn of events, he puzzled out the headline (confusingly written in both Mandarin and Korean): Zhang Yixing to Perform as Acclaimed Soloist at United National Parade of State Pride, not Associated with the Pride Parade Scheduled for the Homosexuals Next Month. 

“What?” He turned to his right to see Lee Soo Man, who, still 1.98 meters tall, nodded at him slowly. 

“Yes, Junmyeon. This is the future. Your members, living in this world where our beloved president has disappeared in a horrible coup, have been separated for months. My beautiful company, which I molded myself with my own manly hands, has gone up in flames,” he said, watching sadly as the building collapsed into ash. Somewhere to his right, Lee Taemin quietly prayed in Mandarin.

“But why, Lee Soo Man sunbaenim? What are you trying to tell me?” Junmyeon asked, tears wetting his beautiful brown eyes.

Lee Soo Man shrugged sadly. “You’ll have to see.” He snapped his fingers again, and the flaming building disappeared. 

\--------

When Junmyeon reawakened, he found himself standing at a massive white podium staring out at a crowd of thousands. Beside him, Sehun was frowning, toying with the ends of his red tie. Junmyeon looked down to see himself wearing a matching white suit, standing in the center of a circle of his members.

“And now… the pride of the United Korean Peninsula, the nation’s pick, nine-piece boy group and gem in the jewel-studded crown of elegant, yet gentle giant Lee Soo Man, EXO!” a voice crowed from somewhere in the distance. The first notes of Growl began to play with such ferocity that the ground beneath Junmyeon shook.

“Don’t worry, hyung. Everything will be fine.” He knew that voice. Junmyeon looked to his left, startled by the low whisper, to see Zhang Yixing smiling benevolently beside him. His dimples looked as if they were carved by angels, his smile scintillating, his eyes glimmering with excitement. “We’ve got this.”

Junmyeon’s spirit exited his body as they began to perform their massive hit Growl from their acclaimed 2013 album XOXO (the Growl repackage.) When they finished, the invisible crowd roared, and from them emerged Lee Soo Man, holding nine gold medals.

“You have earned this, you fine young men,” he said, handing each Exo member a medal. “You are the true winner of the 2018 Winter Olympics Closing Ceremonies.”

He went to Junmyeon first, his old eyes falling warmly on Exo’s beleaguered leader. “Kim Junmyeon, thank you for singlehandedly reuniting North and South Korea after this bloody, decades-long war. Your dedication to your members has solved multiple international crises, and your title track for your 2017 album The War is the best-selling song in the history of the world.”

“Thank you, Lee Soo Man sunbaenim,” said Junmyeon, bowing at the feet of the founder of S.M. Entertainment. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“Yes,” Yixing contributed. “Without you, Lee Soo Man sunbaenim, the light of my life, I would not have had the opportunity to meet Junmyeon at the DMZ and reunite with Exo forever.” 

“I can’t believe Yixing had been a prisoner of Kim Jong-un when we all thought he was in China and you, super leader hyung, were the one who expertly negotiated his release,” Chanyeol said.

Junmyeon blushed. “Oh, you know, I do what I can for my members.”

Lee Soo Man smiled, the crowd roaring in approval behind him. “Do you see now, Junmyeon, what a single man can do?”

\--------

Junmyeon opened his eyes in the darkness of his room, still reeling from the implications of this dream.

“Hyung? Are you okay?” Sehun asked, blinking sleepily. “I know you said you were going to meditate for a while.”

“Meditate?” Junmyeon stared into the distance. He… he’d been meditating, hadn’t he? When had Lee Soo Man sunbaenim come in? “Did you see Lee Soo Man sunbaenim, Sehunie?” 

Sehun frowned. “It’s not the third Tuesday of the month yet, hyung.”

“Then who…” Junmyeon’s eyes landed on the Buddha statue he kept atop his dresser, and he smiled. “Ah. I see.” He launched himself out of bed, throwing on his best blazer. “I’ll be back, Sehunie. I need to catch a ride to the DMZ.”


End file.
